Juan Pablo Montoya Advance
Phoenix International Raceway
Race:
Subway Fresh Fit 500
Track:
Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile oval)
Location:
Avondale, Ariz.
Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge Team Facts:
Not His First Rodeo at PIR: Juan Pablo Montoya will make his first Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) run in NEXTEL Cup competition this weekend but his second in the Busch Series. Montoya competed at the Arizona track in 2006, finishing 20th in his third-career NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race last November. After starting from the 11th spot for the Arizona Travel 200, Montoya struggled with the handling of his No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger to earn his second top-20 finish.
Hold’em Up, FOX!: Leading into this weekend’s Saturday night race at PIR, Montoya and his No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team are taking on Jeff Hammond and his FOX television posse in a friendly game of paint ball. They will square off at a local paint ball park in the Phoenix, Ariz., area this week prior to going racing. Don’t worry about missing out on the action, as highlights are scheduled to be featured on Saturday’s pre-race show that will start at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Lights, Camera, Action!: Montoya teamed up with fellow Dodge racer Kasey Kahn this week to film a Dodge commercial that is scheduled to air later this year.
Where They Stand: The No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team and Montoya put forth another impressive performance last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway that resulted in a nice bump up in the NEXTEL Cup championship standings. Together, they advanced three positions after their eighth-place finish in the Lone Star State and now stand 13th, just 38 points out of the top 10.
Rookie Ratings: Montoya’s 13th-place position in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings makes him the highest ranked rookie. Along with grabbing the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors, he also took over the lead of the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie class this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with his top-10 finish. Montoya has claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors three times this season—at Texas, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Road Trip: Texaco/Havoline has just made traveling to the race track easier for race fans. Fans can go to www.texacohavoline42.com, click on the link for the road trip and enter their starting location and race destination. In addition to receiving the best route to the track, fans will also get directions to the nearest Xpress Lube and Texaco service stations to make planning their trip to see Montoya easier.
Chassis: The Texaco/Havoline will be running chassis #735 this weekend in Arizona, which is the same chassis Montoya raced to a 16th-place finish at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The driver and crew also tested the car at Richmond earlier this month.
